These are the guys who mailed me:
lalric (Since Feb 15, 2004)
mosel-saar-ruwer (Since Oct 20, 2003)
Here's the mail from mosel - did anybody else get this?
On a recent thread, several of us were wondering about Teresa Heinz Kerry's parents, and just what it was that they were doing in the spy-infested port city of Lourenco Marques, Mozambique, during the Second World War:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/lourenco_marques_63.jpg [VERY LARGE JPEG OF THE MOZAMBIQUIAN COAST]
Since it seems to be fair game to enquire as to whether Arnold Schwarzenegger's father was a Nazi, and whether Mel Gibson's father was a Holocaust denier, I thought maybe it would be fair game for us to enquire as to whether any of Ms. Heinz Kerry's ancestors were in bed with ol' Adolph.
That's where we need the help of the British Freepers.
Heinz Kerry was born Maria Theresa Thierstein Simões-Ferreira, in Lourenco Marques, Mozambique, on October 5, 1938:
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/02/02/timep.teresa.tm/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1130650,00.html Her parents were the Portuguese physician, José Simões-Ferreira, and the German [?] woman, Irene Thierstein:
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=haruspex&id=I78124 The British national archives, or Public Record Office [PRO] is here:
http://www.pro.gov.uk/about/default.htm Most of the PRO records are kept in Kew:
http://www.pro.gov.uk/about/access/sites.htm On February 8, 2002, the PRO released the history of a Special Operations Executive [SOE] operation in Lourenco Marques:
HS 8/891 Operation MALPAS
"Operation Malpas was conceived with the aim of killing a German intelligence operative, Dr. Wertz, who was running a spy network in South Africa from Lourenco Marques. Initially SOE planned to assassinate him using a car bomb but this plan was rejected for fear of causing 'serious reprisals in a neutral country'. SOE infiltrated Wertz's operation instead and it ceased to be effective."
http://www.pro.gov.uk/releases/feb2002-SOE/list2.htm All PRO "HS" series records are here:
http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk/DisplayCatalogueBrowser.asp?CATLN=1&CATID=153&GPE=False&MARKER=0 "HS3" deals with "Special Operations Executive: Africa and Middle East Group: Registered Files," while the aforementioned "HS8" deals with "Ministry of Economic Warfare, Special Operations Executive and successors: Headquarters: Records".
The aforementioned "HS8/891" is here:
http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk/DisplayCatalogueDetails.asp?CATLN=6&CATID=8181313&DTN=4 In the overview for the "HS3" category, there is also a mention of Operation Malpas:
"In West Africa, SOE was engaged in monitoring Spanish, Portuguese and Vichy-controlled French possessions in order to detect and disrupt any activity threatening Britain's West African possessions; and in preventing the smuggling of diamonds from West Africa to the Axis powers (Operation MALPAS)."
http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk/DisplayCatalogueDetails.asp?CATLN=3&CATID=7961&DTN=5 Unfortunately, I can't find a specific document in "HS3" that gives any more information about Operation Malpas.
If anyone has the time to drop by Kew, dig up these HS3 & HS8 records, and search through them for names like Thierstein, Simoes, Ferreira, Simoes-Ferreira, Simões, and Simões-Ferreira, we here in the states would be most grateful.
Thanks!
PS: If you really enjoy conspiracy theories, the general vicinity of Southern Africa was a hotbed of activity for people [such as the Nazis] who were searching for Uranium with which to build a nuclear fission device. I'd give just about anything to find a document that had the words "Uranium" or "Heavy Water" and the words "Thierstein" or "Simões-Ferreira" in it. But at this point, I'm probably entering the realm of fantasy.
Anyway, thanks again!
PPS: I downloaded all the "HS9" series SOE personnel records [presumably the employment records of the good guys], and I couldn't find any mention of "Thierstein", "Ferreira", "Simões", or "Simoes", so I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have been the good guys in Operation Malpas.
Thanks yet again!
